The Damned were my first musical obsession and I still get a lot out of their music decades later. This wasn't the best I have seen them although there were plenty of fun and enjoyable moments. A 40th anniversary set saw them open with the whole of Damned Damned Damned - although the absence of Stab Yor Back shows their rift with Rat Scabies is as healthy as ever - and then 90 minutes of stuff from all over their career. Some very unexpected songs in there, many of which I had never heard them play before despite seeing them well over 30 times. Under The Floor Again, White Rabbit, Life Goes On, Antipope - all surprises. The usual audience/band banter with Captain Sensible's inevitable endless crowd wind-ups including him baiting the punters about Jimmy Savile. Good punky fun.

Having said that this was at the O2 Academy, a truly wretched venue. Lumpy, muddy sound a lot of the time and a really annoying lighting rig that was largely blinding the audience with bright spotlights and strobes shining directy into your eyes, to the point where it was so unpleasant that I spent a lot of the gig with my head down and eyes shut. In my old(er) age I find venues to be instrumental in my enjoyment. I now realise that if a show is at an O2 Academy it is likely I won't go. Sadly that is the level of pull The Damned have, so that may be my last ever Damned show. I can't go to shows at that shithole. The venue kind of ruined it. But whatever, I still love The Damned and will state again that I regard Sensible as one of the most unrated guitarists in rock - he remains a spectacular player, largely note perfect and looking like he could do it in his sleep. But I miss Rat, no doubt about that.

Goat as mentioned by angelsighs, really enjoyable show they really smash it live, great vibes, good day with some beers and great bands. Hookworms typically suffered with poor sound, which seems to be something that follows them around, i have seen them nigh on 12 times and only twice can I recall superb sound, so probably not a coincidence.
Jane Weaver was great but the songs are too long and begin to meander, Mugstar, whilst playing great definately missed pete as there was a definate layer missing and it couldn't be covered up. Drummer is awesome though.
Following week it was myself and Gaz off to Gorilla in Manchester for;
Wooden Shjips

You know what you get with these guys, 1 hr 10 mins of throbbing repetition and much head bobbing, nice mix from all the albums, (setlist is up at setlist.fm). Good crowd in, not sold out but well attended, easily 500 plus in maybe more. Quick catch up with Jamers T after the show in the Piccadilly Tap and homeward bound.

PJ Harvey

This was at the much maligned (and rightly so) Victoria warehouse near to Old Trafford. There were horror stories about the gig with John Carpenter the weekend previous so it was with much trepidation we headed here very early to make sure we could actually see. We were in situ about 1hour 15 before she came on. Sound was great where we were and the view was decent and unobtrusive. Not so for those who turned up half hour before she was due on and the crowd bottlenecked to devastating effect ensuring 25% of the crowd (which they said hadn't sold out !!) could not see or hear much as they were behind pillars in the bar, so impossible to get a drink for anyone else as well (which was fine as the beer is shit and overpriced). The complaint raged with gusto on social media for the week following, people demanding refunds.
The show itself was an unbelievable spectacle, Polly is a consumate performer, backed by 10 no less chaps, many of her long standing entourage all present. The guys add vocals on a large quantity of the set which drew heavily from the last 2 albums and it worked on every level. We had every manor of instrumentation played and the crowd lapped it up. It was a special evening, although not so for 1000 or so whose night was ruined by a greedy venue who clearly oversold the event.

last Sunday it was Kristin Hersh @: Gorilla

One of my favourite artists, anything she does I buy and listen to death, ever since The Throwing Muses University tour and prior to that her Hips and makers tour in 94, probably seen her in one guise or another nigh on 20 times. For those that are not a fan, i would urge you to watch her solo, the passion and intensity is so engrossing, as well as her famous head sliding from side to side whilst staring into space (although you always convince yourself she is looking at you!)
This event coincided with her new book/double Cd. A seated (sold out) show in which she went through her repertoire for 90 minutes, whilst reading excerpts from her books and telling her witty stories to lead us into the next song.
Too many highlight to mention, but her guitar playing is wonderful and it was a lovely evening with this engaging performer.

Tuesday I was at Gorilla again for;
Black Mountain

Again not sold out but probably 450 to 500 in. I real return to form for the Canadinan Prog/rock/psych outfit with their album from this year returning to the longer song method that has served them so well rather than the Sabbath-esque 3rd album that did nothing for me. nigh on 90 minutes of big riffs, lovely male/female combined vox, some excellent keyboards floating across the whole entire set and the band played with relentless energy. Set was career spanning but 5 from the new album which worked even better in a live setting. Stormy High was brilliant as always, but opener Mothers of The Sun was ferocious and gave everyone an early smack in the chops. After a superb 10 minute version of Space To Bakersfield, they departed, only to return with a transcendent and very different 'No Hits' from the 10 year old debut. Wonderful stuff

Earth
My second time seeing Earth and a lot to enjoy- Dylan's guitar raised pose, the seemingly infinite sustain as the notes hang in the air, the excellent drumming (I like to watch Adrienne drum, I think there is actually a lot of skill in drumming that slowly). The only thing was it was kinda more of the same. The setlist was basically identical as last time I saw them, except for one new song and a song from a recent soundtrack. Wonder where Earth will take their sound next.. the reinvention into softer and more atmospheric drone was inspired, then the last album was a mixture of old and new Earth.
The crowd at Earth gigs is always interesting- one of those gigs where you see metalheads, psychonauts and indie kids at the same show

Mono
This was a double headliner with Alcest who are kind of metal mixed with shoegaze. I didn't enjoy them so much, they were definitely tight and I enjoyed the shoegaze elements where they let effects pedals do their stuff, but the metal elements were too prominent for my tastes.

Mono were just what I expected- kind of a one trick pony, but what a trick. They do deal in the cliches of postrock but I think what sets them apart is the sheer beauty and scale of the songs they put together. Almost comically epic at points but if you go along with it, boy is it effective! They opened with one of my favourites, Ashes in The Snow which set the tone- building from a gentle xylophone beginning through to strummed delayed guitars where it starts to swirl, then the huge crescendos were just breathtaking. most of the set was from the new album I think. The last song was seriously epic- the first half was nice and melodic then the second half just went ballistic.

Public Image Ltd
Another case of more of the same, really. very similar set to last time I saw them and with a hefty price tag for the ticket and no support act, left me feeling a bit short changed. The band are all very tight and professional- almost too professional and slick to be honest. kind of wanted some of the danger and edge where you feel they might be improvising in the moment. John did have a sweary rant at someone taking photos from the balcony but it was more like he was trying to play up to his badboy image. They did an extended vamp on Religion but it just seemed quite rehearsed. other early ones played were Albatross (probably highlight of the set) and Swan Lake. I don't want to seem too down on the set as they certainly played well, and I'm glad they are still putting out new work.. but it left me a bit cold.

Went to see The Sisters of Mercy last night. It is 31 years since I last saw them in 1985. They used to be a decent night out and an excellent (if goth) live act. Last night was awful. Rubbish sound, horrible venue (Liverpool Olympia, I was last there for a New Order gig in 1983 ) crap band. I arrived at 9:00. Gig started at 9:10, I left at 9:55. Utterly rubbish caricature of what was once a decent rock 'n roll band.

I saw The Early Years at Leeds Wharf Chambers on Thursday. Have to say they were quite excellent. The set was evenly split between old and new and pretty much everything was spot on. Tiny venue, no more than 60 people, but an excellent sound and a nice vibe throughout. They really cranked it up at times with some good old-fashioned Jason-style wah-wah rippling around a lot of the time which was most welcome. We chatted to a couple of the band who were really friendly and appreciative to those who made the effort. Great band, great night.

I was a little hesitant about this show but it turned out to be excellent. The band took the stage in somewhat shambolic fashion, taking an age to set up and very late. That meant we missed the final section as the last bus home was a close call. The opening track - unknown to me - was actually pretty dull and just rotated vaguely pleasantly without doing much. Then they went into a lot of the songs from the Inner Journey Out album, one of the year's best releases for many of us, and the whole dynamic changed. Fantastic wobbly reverb guitar sound, deep bass and a truly glorious pedal steel, and for such a small place the sound was absolutely spot on - very clear yet enveloping. Highlights would be Baby, Coca Cola Blues and - particularly - I Don't Mind. In the middle of that song there is a big pedal steel solo and as it approached I saw bassist Elizabeth Hart glance over at guitarist Tres Warren and then smile broadly as the slippery notes gushed off the stage. A neat moment. At one point the pedal steel was played through a fuzz pedal which sounded spectacular. The whole set was generally very impressive and really enjoyable.

One curious note. The venue was a new one for the crowd i was with and seemed rather good. Uutil I popped to the toilets before the end and found the Gents to be a small room full of cardboard boxes, buckets, mops and rubbish you couldn't get past before waiting and watching the bloke in front of you peeing in a single open - indeed door-less - cubicle. Surreal - and by some distance the most unpleasant venue toilets I can remember. Something not right there!

They were not early heros at all. They were a decent night out. They did have a fair old influence on the music I listen to though as I chased down The Stooges and Suicide back catalogues having heard the Sisters cover 1969 and Ghost Rider in the early 1980s. They also used to regularly cover VU and the Stones. Surprisingly though, their live covers of Emma, Jolene and Gimmme, gimme gimme a man after midnight did not convert me to Hot Chocolate, Dolly Parton or Abba.

Having learned my lesson about avoiding 1980's bands with dodgy goth associations, I am off to see The Cure tonight on a freebie.

Re: Sisters Of Mercy:
A few years ago, actually maybe more, I walked into a local record shop and they had a stack of free Sisters Of Mercy tickets on the counter. I took a few. I had never seen them before. We used to sell a lot of their records. Lots of them rare at collectors prices. To my knowledge they never toured much.
I went with some friends and if I weren't in a sea of goths all dressed up and in serious pouty face form I would have thought it was a goth karaoke night.
They were horrible. I admit I am not a fan. I like a few songs. Mainly some of the cover versions like Gimme Shelter and 1969.
Re: Psychic Ills:
I really do believe the show I saw suffered for the promoter blowing it. It was a beautiful night in SW Detroit and the venue was empty. There were 3 bands and most of the crowd was made up of other bands. They never advertised the show nor did they get the tickets out to the record shops that sell them for this venue minus the ridiculous surcharge.
I do think we got a show that reflected the disappointment of the band and they just went thru the motions.
Being a massive Spiritualized fan clearly I dont need banter from bands. But I don't think the guitarist/singer ever looked up and acknowledged the crowd until the very end. Maybe my expectations were too high. I just left the venue wondering why I just spent the time and effort for what I got in return.
Glad you folks in Leeds enjoyed it.

Just back from The Cure. Very weird gig with a total lack of atmosphere in the venue. The crowd was asleep for much of the set. The show was truncated set due to illness and technical issues. Decent night out for the price I paid but they are typically much better than this.

Almost didn`t go to this, glad I changed my mind late on although I did have to go solo. For a midweek gig there was a very respectable crowd, way more than I thought the band could realistically draw not sold out, but not far away, pleasing stuff for the band. The actual band were bang on, Elizabeth Hart on bass? Yes she`s good, right thick bass sound, the songs from this yrs album making up the most of the set with a few from the previous One Track Mind as well. Any notions I had about it being a bit `samey` were quickly dispelled, gospel and country tones, jazzy inflexions here, and really bluesy rocking out in places plus a really woozy narcotic feel that was most pleasing, band went down really well and they even played an encore, glad I made the effort to get out.

Low at St George's Church Brighton. Finally got to hear their sublime Christmas album played live, which was just wonderful. Really sent shivers down my neck and will live long in the memory.

That was part one. Part two became a bit surreal as some crazy old fool - who was clearly a big fan of the band - got totally carried away, constantly getting out of his front row seat and dancing around in front of the band, who were not on a stage but at floor level. At first it was quite funny and Alan S took it in good stride, but that only encouraged him (as did the half-litre of vodka he had smuggled in, according to his shame-faced tweets the day after) and in the end security got involved.

It made for a tense stand-off until the bloke finally went too far and decided to join the band on stage, at which point he was frogmarched off to jeers and catcalls. Had a nice journey home in a police car, according to his tweets!

There's a time and a place for getting smashed out of your mind and making a spectacle of yourself. This wasn't it. Less drinky, more thinky.

James T - I'm sure Alan will tell the tale well when you see him for your gig...

Superb show from the Fannies. Their recentl stuff hasn't set my world alight, but when they can make up a 23-song setlist of such wonderful, wonderful songs spanning their entire career and still have the audience begging for more, you can't fault them. Smailes throughout the band all night and some great singalongs by the audience, it was just one of those shows that yo uare really glad you went along to. Even some of the newer songs sounded a bit more "alive" when played live.

A band that might drift in and out of my listening periodically, but one who i will ALWAYS go see live. It might be bleak up north, but TFC will always bring us sunshine whenever they play.

I had heard some stuff by these guys previously but knew little about them.Part of me expected something quite punky but what we got was pretty classic heavy stoner rock. The stage was lit from the back so I still don't know what the band actually look like as at no point were the lights on them properly. The set was a heads down throbbing riff fest, lots of hair and guitar fuzz. I didn't know any of the songs but the audience sure did, singing along loudly and all doing the heavy rock bop - where everyone nods forward heavily on the beat. It was great to watch the entire crowd bopping as one. Great sound quality as ever in that place and a good atmosphere too. We took Dock Ellis star King Bunny of Bunny Racket with us and he had a great time, calling the evening 'comfort food' which made me smile. Great fun all round...

Our 3rd time seeing this man this year, but the first time I have ever seen him with a full band. At one point there were 15 people on stage - full band plus horn section, cello, backing singers. The venue was absolutely magnificent - rarely have I seen a show in a place as beautiful as that. Check it out.

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Hard to see but myself and Mrs. Runcible are actually in this piccie! And to see one of the most amazing musicians there is play to a home crowd like that was a real privilege - it was packed and joyous in there. Much of his set was new material as he has an album out in 2017 - all good songs, but the highlights were his renditions of older Shack classics. The 3rd song was Stranger from the classic Waterpistol album. It was just extraordinary - and the only tune last night where I felt the overwhelming wave of emotion wash over me. Lump in the throat, eyes brimming over, I was transfixed... Beyond magnificent. Lots of other great moments - Mood of the Morning, Streets of Kenny, Cadiz, Mr Appointment... Curiously not a single song from the wonderful Strands album which was odd. But whatever... we had an absolutely fantastic evening. The encore was Newby Street - played twice in the set - and the whole crowd was on their feet dancing, singing, beaming their faces off. The atmosphere was superb in that place. Only my 2nd proper time in Liverpool and I have to say the city is fantastic - everyone we met was really friendly and we met a lot of great people. All finished off this morning with a gigantic full English at the fabulous Georgie Porgy cafe in the shadow of the Anfield stadium. Thumbs up all round...

Mr. Murphy had laryngitis, so his voice was rough, but he ran through a nice set of solo works, some Bauhaus numbers, and a few covers (Bewlay Brothers, Severence). It was in a nice small theater, like an old movie house, and I was seated in the last row of the front section, about half-way back.

Primal Scream : Portsmouth Pyramids Centre.
This was probably the best up for it crowd gig this year for me. Starting off with a wonderful set from support band Bo Ningen. Lots of noise ,drone and feedback. Such a visual thing with them,always colourful and more hair flowing than you'll ever see anywhere.
Primal Scream thinned down with no second guitarist. Bobby Gillespie working really hard to whip up the crowd, and succeeding with flying colours.
Stand out songs were (feeling like a ) Demon again,Swastika Eyes, (I'm gonna) Cry myself blind,Come together and Country Girl.
Money very well spent and a great end to 2016's gigs for me.

Never seen these guys before but I expected exceptional heaviness - which is exactly what I got. Insanely heavy and very intense for pretty much the whole set, they produced one of the deepest, richest and all round gigantic guitar sounds I have ever witnessed. It was ridiculous. In all honesty I thought the slower doomy songs were a tad dull, but when they went for it - such as during the joined-up trio of Pink/Woman On The Screen/Nothing Special - they were excellent. There were a few moments like that in fact. I took my 2 eldest daughters who are into a lot of really noisy shit like Bring Me The Horizon and they really enjoyed it. Mrs. Runcible didn't care for it, but I rather expected that. A boisterous mosh pit opened up during 'Just Abandoned Myself' which kind of took a few folks by surprise. The Closing track of the set was 'Farewell' and - to my satisfaction - they totally nailed that planet-sized opening chord. As we left my eldest told me she has seen 'quite a lot of stuff much heavier than that'. Yikes - how much heavier does music get?!

REALLY small room for the gig (sold out at 70 people) so the place was rammed and you could almost see the sweat running down the walls. Wasn't familiar with the support acts but the first one (Silver Vials i think) had a groovy Lumerians thing going on which was not bad. Second band (Primitive Knot) had a Sunn O))) thing going on which i didn't really take to but they had a couple of good songs, especially their last one which got into a really good groove and rather enjoyable.

Camera came on and there was a weird vibe. I thought it was just tiredness on my part after a long day but i was just not feeling it. Drummer started having kit issues and things were stopping/starting a bit even though the guitarist and keyboard player were trying their very best to fill in the gaps and keep things going. The guitarist was trying to get an idea of what the problem was from him (everything sounds pretty OK from where we were - no noticable sound issues or anything) but the drummer started shouting/venting randomly in German (which we later found out was "Questions!! Questions!!!") and it all seemed to descend into chaos. They finished the set but i think we got maybe 3 songs if we were lucky while the rest was filler/ranting. No encore either.

After the show we were standing around talking to various people and the drummer barged passed us a few times with flight cases and the like but he did not appear to be in a good mood so no idea what caused all that. Bad night? maybe... being a diva? more likely...

I may have travelled down from Scotland to see them but i'm glad it was not the be-all-and-end-off our trip nor was it an overly expensive trip either. If i'd paid £20 a ticket on top of regular travel costs, then i think i would have been pretty pissed off.

Anyways, was a good day out and got ahcnace to grab a blether with our Dave Caldwell and James Travis and a raft of other friends who were in attendance.

Yep good to catch up Laz. Yeah it was a weird show, very disjointed gig, considering this band supposedly were once the ultimate Guerilla band then the tiny issues he was having behind the kit, quite frankly, took the piss.The sound for such a small room was perfect to my ears
He acted like an absolute baffoon and initially the guitarist was laughing along to try and keep the peace but after a while he just lost it with our drummer friend and it was tense on stage to say the least. I was gong to buy a poster but thought "sod that" after that debacle. I would probably avoid these in the future. Which itself speaks volumes.
I was going to review this for the next Cardinal Fuzz Mag, but I can't even be arsed to give them any added publicity, either good or bad.

I've seen Camera twice and on both occasions Michael Drummer - his name in fact - looked edgy and uncomfortable. There were technical issues at both shows so that when they looked about to start they all left the stage for another delay. But when they did get going they were really fantastic. Sorry you guys got a messy show...

Calexico & Friends, Royal Concert Hall, part of Celtic Connections.
I have a friend who quite likes to go to one or two Celtic Connections gig every year, and as I'm not a huge fan of the more traditional stuff, I suggested Calexico.
I'm not overly familiar with their catalogue tbh, neither did I know any of their friends, so I really wasn't sure quite to expect (I think I'd seen them before once at a festival ca 98/99 and it was pleasant enough). And I thought nothing of the date of the gig until the day itself. But they had clearly done, and I have to say this gig was a wonderful pick me up following Trump's inauguration.
A celebration of all music Pan-American, with an eclectic collection of guests. Some more upbeat (one guy from "Mexxrissey" who verged on silly rap), some more introspective stuff (Pieta Brown, Katell Keineg), and plenty of Mexican sounds! A really good night overall.

was a pretty strange night all in all. neither band are particularly 'normal' haha.

There was a fair bit of hanging about beforehand. Bo Ningen didn't come on stage until gone 9 which is a bit weird, then The Fall came on at 10pm and barely did an hour.
It didn't help that there was not enough bar staff on, and those that were seemed not to notice who had been at the bar the longest.. 20 mins to get a drink... so I was a bit grumpy but that's probably an apt mood for The Fall

I think I actually preferred Bo Ningen overall. they were a nice bit of gonzo psych rock, some pretty heavy moments and throwing some rock shapes. The singer had this strange signing style that's almost rapping at times. The end of set blowout was great, lots of feedback and standing on top of amps.

The Fall were kind of what I expected, from my limited experience of their music. repetitive, driving rhythms somewhere between punk rock and krautrock with Mark ranting incomprehensibly over the top. it was pretty tight and rocking but a bit samey really so the relatively short set length was probably apt.
Mark E Smith is a hard nut to crack. what's going on in his head? he doesn't acknowledge the crowd whatsoever, was wondering off behind guitar amps and had a Korg keyboard off to one side that he occasionally twiddled on a bit.. there was no interaction with his bandmates either (who all look about 20 years younger than him).

angelsighs wrote:
I think I actually preferred Bo Ningen overall. they were a nice bit of gonzo psych rock, some pretty heavy moments and throwing some rock shapes. The singer had this strange signing style that's almost rapping at times. The end of set blowout was great, lots of feedback and standing on top of amps.

I've seen them a couple of times, but it's been a few years now.They're fab live! I hope they do a headline tour soon.

angelsighs wrote:First gig of the year last night. The Fall supported by Bo Ningen

The Fall were kind of what I expected, from my limited experience of their music. repetitive, driving rhythms somewhere between punk rock and krautrock with Mark ranting incomprehensibly over the top. it was pretty tight and rocking but a bit samey really so the relatively short set length was probably apt.
Mark E Smith is a hard nut to crack. what's going on in his head? he doesn't acknowledge the crowd whatsoever, was wondering off behind guitar amps and had a Korg keyboard off to one side that he occasionally twiddled on a bit.. there was no interaction with his bandmates either (who all look about 20 years younger than him).

Sounds like a very quiet night for The Fall. Nobody injured, sacked, electrocuted or savaged with a banana.

Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band - Night and Day Cafe, Manchester

Another instalment in my Micheal Head addiction and another superb evening, this time with a standard 3 piece - acoustic guitar, bass, drums, which I hadn't seen him do before. 2 new songs, the rest almost all Shack/Red Elastic Band material with a single tune from the Strands album. It was pretty packed out but the last 2 shows he did - this one and London a couple of weeks ago - both sold out in under a minute so hardly surprising. The usual big scouse contingent of folk I recognised from previous gigs, so lots of banter between Mick and the crowd with loads of people known to each other as well as Mick himself. Some of the stuff people shouted was hilarious and he had to try hard to stop the set becoming a requests night. It's hard to describe the atmosphere at these shows as the audience are so enraptured just with the very presence of Mick on stage. He gets a very friendly crowd every time. Loads of stuff from the magnificent Waterpistol LP plus more. I hadn't heard him play Byrds Turn To Stone before so that was a treat but it was the single Strands tune Something Like You that had me wiping away a tear and that familiar throat tightening wash of emotion hit me full on. Sadly the sound wasn't great so the vocals were slightly muffled at times and his guitar wasn't loud enough. But overall another triumph for the great man with many memorable moments. If he played a week's residency at the Brudenell I'd go every night...

Agree it was top show. The key with the sound in that venue is get close, otherwise it just becomes, as you rightly point, really muffled. I was 2 from the front and the sound was great for me. His voice has really improved with age, I saw Shack twice before and left both shows unimpressed. I consigned them to 'bands that are far better on record'.
Anyhow a random opportunity to go to this landed at my feet on Saturday evening so thought I would give it a go, largely based upon Runcibles glowing reviews on this very thread.
I was captivated from start to finish and child have easily listened to that for a further hour or so. Too many stand out's to mention but my highlight was 'Meant To Be' which was just spellbinding.
Without a doubt I will be keeping an eye for further dates

Yeah it was very last minute, my mate had a spare, so he gave me the heads up on Sat night, had stacks of domestic stuff to deal with so only agreed to attend at about 4pm Sunday, so very rushed on my part. Will hopefully catch up in due course I'm sure soon. That said glad I made the effort to go.

I wish Michael Head would venture out more. apart from the odd London date he seems to totally stick to Liverpool (where the local following presumably guarantees a sell out) or sometimes Manchester. I guess the numbers just don't add up as he is very much a cult concern.

olan wrote:
Sounds like a very quiet night for The Fall. Nobody injured, sacked, electrocuted or savaged with a banana.

yeah, I'd heard stories about Mark's antics and although he was inscrutable and a bit strange, there was no on stage violence at least! I am wondering if The Banana Incident is a true event or something you've just made up?

angelsighs wrote:I wish Michael Head would venture out more. apart from the odd London date he seems to totally stick to Liverpool (where the local following presumably guarantees a sell out) or sometimes Manchester. I guess the numbers just don't add up as he is very much a cult concern.

Curiously this Manchester gig and the recent London date sold out in under 60 seconds. We saw him last year in Liverpool and tickets took about half a day to sell out. Also seen him in Leeds, Hull and Hebden Bridge - again all sold out...

He did mention a full tour when he was onstage on Sunday so fingers crossed!

angelsighs wrote:ah I guess I'm talking rubbish- it seems he does play outside Liverpool a fair amount!
hopefully a full tour will follow once they release an album.

I saw him last Feb in Glasgow and very good it was too but I do take your point, he hasn`t been touring in the traditional sense and his gigs are more occasions, you might need to travel a bit if you really want to see him,

Bloody hell, at least I won't be going to the Midnight Oil show. Tix went on sale Friday and the show for Oakland SOLD-OUT in an hour or so. I didn't know about the tour. I didn't read about the tour until I saw the local rag promoting it. All North American shows are sold out. They added a 2nd night for N.Y. I hope they add on another show for Oakland, CA.

We went to see Julian Cope a week or so ago at the Arts Club in Liverpool. This is a nice venue with decent sight lines and usually very good sound that I don't seem to go to very much. I think the last gig I saw there was The Men in 2015.

Cope as usual was superb, playing a greatest hits set peppered with new tunes from the recent Drunken Songs CD. I'm always impressed by what a powerful and versatile voice Cope has. Effectively, the show was just Cope and his collection of acoustic guitars, although he did tape down a few keys on an ancient mellotron and strum an electric guitar for Culture Bunker. Cope is also genuinely very funny at times, his references to the Crucial Three were hilarious. The idea that he responded to Pete Wylie's love song 'Heart as Big as Liverpool' with a drinking song called 'Liver big as Hartlepool' was very amusing. The song itself is also beautifully crafted.

I picked up the 'Drunken Songs' and 'Rite at Ya' CDs at the gig which are on regular rotation here. Great gig to attend sober too.

We saw Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation at the Brudenell last night, elevated from the games room to the main music room because of high ticket sales.

I have to say this was way better than I expected. I had heard a bit of her music and one song in particular - Take Me Beyond - which she and the band played. It was a night of rhythms and fuzzy guitars, with a lot of quality motorik driving sounds, but all the rest was rich in power and texture. Josefin has quite a band behind her and they never let up, from the slow building opener to the somewhat intense closing encore. Great sound as ever and a fairly monstrous lead guitar noise to the left of the stage. The place was about 2/3 full which made it really comfortable to move around and there was a really terrific atmosphere in the place with everyone having a great time - lots of dancing, bobbing about and everyone around me was lit up with energy. Well worth the punt we took, but I'm a sucker for rhythms like that if they're good.

runcible wrote:We saw Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation at the Brudenell last night, elevated from the games room to the main music room because of high ticket sales.

I have to say this was way better than I expected. I had heard a bit of her music and one song in particular - Take Me Beyond - which she and the band played. It was a night of rhythms and fuzzy guitars, with a lot of quality motorik driving sounds, but all the rest was rich in power and texture. Josefin has quite a band behind her and they never let up, from the slow building opener to the somewhat intense closing encore. Great sound as ever and a fairly monstrous lead guitar noise to the left of the stage. The place was about 2/3 full which made it really comfortable to move around and there was a really terrific atmosphere in the place with everyone having a great time - lots of dancing, bobbing about and everyone around me was lit up with energy. Well worth the punt we took, but I'm a sucker for rhythms like that if they're good.

Excellent Mark. We're off to see them tomorrow at the Moth Club in London, sounds really good from that review. It's a sold out show in a tight venue with a low stage so hoping to get there early to bag a space at the front or else there'll not be much to see if further back. Did Cherrystones support? I know he's a crate digging DJ so guess he was just playing tunes. Looking forward to a good evening of grooving.

runcible wrote:We saw Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation at the Brudenell last night, elevated from the games room to the main music room because of high ticket sales.

I have to say this was way better than I expected. I had heard a bit of her music and one song in particular - Take Me Beyond - which she and the band played. It was a night of rhythms and fuzzy guitars, with a lot of quality motorik driving sounds, but all the rest was rich in power and texture. Josefin has quite a band behind her and they never let up, from the slow building opener to the somewhat intense closing encore. Great sound as ever and a fairly monstrous lead guitar noise to the left of the stage. The place was about 2/3 full which made it really comfortable to move around and there was a really terrific atmosphere in the place with everyone having a great time - lots of dancing, bobbing about and everyone around me was lit up with energy. Well worth the punt we took, but I'm a sucker for rhythms like that if they're good.

Sounds like a great evening , which is made so much better when you have some room to move. This bodes well for my trip to Brighton on Sunday. Thought they were really good at LPF last year . Roll on Sunday.

went to see Novella last Monday in Coventry.
this is a gig that I expected to be mediocre at best, but they far exceeded my expectations. they were really good. nothing original or mindblowing, but just very solid and a great night out for a fiver.
there's definitely a krautrock feel- shades of Stereolab with soft cooing vocals over the top of motorik rhythms, some dream poppy bits too. reminded me a little of the much missed Electrelane in parts.
they just seemed so confident, with every note in the right place. it helped that the sound quality was spot on too.

I love how these simple building rhythms can be so effective. in one song they did a sort of gear change which was note perfect and a really great moment.

Josefin Ohrn and the Liberation } The Haunt Brighton
Was really looking forward to this, but I didn't enjoy the gig as much as their appearance at last years LPF . The venue was heaving and although I was up front to start with the sound and atmosphere was not there for me . Probably the occasion at last years LPF influenced my experience but , would still keep my eyes open for these guys.

Saw Josefin Ohrn at the Moth Club in London Saturday night and had a great time. More of a Runcible experience than a Brokenheart experience. They hit a very sweet groove, really powerful and transportive at times (is that a word, transportive??). Bagged a spot at the very front so had a head to toe clear view and a guitar neck swing close up to our faces a couple of times. Josefin herself is a very beautiful lady, great presence, smiling a lot and seemed to be really enjoying the show and reception. Only downsides were them being 20 mins late on stage due to train delays or something, not sure whether that cut the set short by a bit, plus the guitarist had a tech issue right at the beginning. Also an older couple stood stock still next to us, gradually shifting over, encrouching more and more into our space until the much taller guy was stood in front of my girlfriend, blocking her view. No need to do it as there was room to their other side, weirdoes, I hate people like that at gigs. Apart from that a pretty stunning evening. Bought a copy of Mirage afterwards which Josefin signed for me, had a brief chat, very nice. Found out when home that the vinyl had a scratch on both sides so messaged her on Facebook and she's happy to meet up in London to switch it over should Rocket not be able to help me out. What a lady!

This was the big original line up reformation for a few dates only gig. 200 tickets were available through Kickstarter, and I didn't really think twice!
Nice wee venue, just outside of the city centre, the sound was good and loud, and the place was packed but not uncomfortably so.
They played two sets, the first mostly drawing from The Things We make plus the two singles from The Way I Feel Today, rounded off with b-sides Get A Real Tattoo and Always Waiting For. Maybe took 2-3 songs to really get going, not the best 'European Me' I've heard, but they were well into their stride afterwards.
Then after a break we were treated to The Closer You Get in full. Only regret was I was still at the bar for the start and Eat Junk Become Junk and Sawn Off Metallica TShirt rather than at the front and dancing! I made up for that during Don't Wanna Stop and Slab Square, and My Life is an Accident, Another Love Song and Overnight Success were all incredible too.
The venue was open till 2 so I hung about for a bit afterwards, and had a chat with some of the guys. I was glad to hear that Chris D's band Spotlight Kid is still going on albeit as more of a scattered Spotlight Kid Collective nowadays.
So a really fab night overall, well glad I made the effort.

They're playing another gig in London next Sat. It won't be two sets, and I'm not going to that, but I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who can make it.

Grails at Glasgow Stereo. I wasn't quite sure what to expect as it had been 7 years since they last played here and the latest album is more synth-driven. But it was definitely no softcore porn soundtrack evening, and in fact probably more from Deep Politics than Chalice Hymnal. Heavy, dynamic, transporting, and intense, really great gig.

Two small negatives: no setlist at all to collect (they'd certainly put effort in last time round! I was hoping to start a collection there ). And maybe a tad short for a band that doesn't tour very often, around the 1hr10min mark. I'm on holidays this week, and might have been tempted to travel down to Manchester to catch them one more time, but too much effort for a not very long gig (+fed up with trains).

They're playing another gig in London next Sat. It won't be two sets, and I'm not going to that, but I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who can make it.

I went on Saturday - it was excellent. Chris Olley will never be the world's most natural frontman (some of the between song 'banter' was painful!) but this original line-up certainly knows how to rock.

I think they were pleased they got a decent crowd and gave it their all. I was there mainly to accompany my mate, who is a massive fan, but I have to say I had a great time!

Cat Power at Concorde 2, Brighton. I'm a sucker for Chans songs and beautiful vocals, and would probably go to see her each time she visits the country.
Some old songs, some covers and some crazy chat, but the voice gets me every time.
Her live shows can be pretty erratic at times with her issues of stage fright which has diminished over the years since quitting alcohol. A wonderful evening of Cat Power on guitar and piano.

Really enjoyed this set, after the more jaunty albums of Mazes and Circles, the last 2 have been darker and more drone based and with the drummer in tow, it really is a great 1 hr 15 mins set, attacking the senses and the visuals are also impressive.
set drawn from last 2 albums mainly, new songs in encore called Sevens (I think) and rollicking version of No Fun by the Stooges. BOW was sold out and packed to the rafters, sound was superb and the band clearly enjoyed themselves.
If you get chance to see them or have missed them recently, would reccomend seeing them for sure,

I forgot to post about the Peter Hook & The Light gig I went to a couple of weeks back.
it didn't leave much impression on me, is probably the reason why. you can't argue with the setlist (it was both Substance albums played, so it was hit after hit) and it was all very solid and tight, but it just left me cold. don't think I'll be seeing Hooky again.

First off, loved the Barrowlands, a venue that appears to do volume and clarity. Ride were louder than they were in Dublin and were all the better for it. Four new tunes in a 90 minute set in Dublin, three in an hour here. Thought new material came across better live than the studio versions.
Sleaford Mods did their thing, you either like 'em or you don't there's no real middle ground with them. I like them but a 5.30 start was a bit mental.
Warpaint better than the last time I saw them but I really wasn't paying that much attention.
Mary Chain were superb. Loved that they started and ended the set with new material, also loved that the four or five new tunes all slotted into the set with ease. They really are on it at the moment. Delighted to be seeing them in a smaller venue in Dublin in two weeks time. Hopefully they will be as loud.

Minor quibble was both Andy Bell and Jim Reid apologising on one occasion each for playing a new song. Never apologise. We all know you're touring new records so we expect to hear new material.

Also, great to bump into niamhm again for a quick chat between Ride and JAMC.

Slowdive last night at the Liverpool Arts Club., which is a venue I quite like (except for the two doric columns holding up the roof and blocking the sightlines). The in-house PA and lighting rig are top class so there is no real excuse for a gig to sound poor, unless your sound engineer has cloth ears. To my taste the rhythm section was far too prominent in the mix with the effect that I had trouble distinguishing between tunes at times. For example I didn't recognise Avalyn, the first tune of the night as the guitars were so low in the mix. On the up side, I heartily approve of circular descending basslines and the kind of drum patterns that Slowdive use, so it wasn't all bad. The set closer 'Golden Hair' was worth the price of the ticket alone.

On to the gig, which I really enjoyed. The choice of tracks was unsurprising, it is largely the set from last year with a couple of new tunes in the main set. The three-song encore contained a new song which to my ears was the weakest of the new material. All-in-all an excellent night out, improved by the attendance of my Mrs for her first gig of the year, Dave Aquarian Time of this parish and Gaz. The pre-gig Thai was superb. There was little merchandise, other than tot-bags and tee-shirts which I avoided. I'm certainly looking forward to the new record.

The band are streaming tonight's show from The Garage in London (via Facebook I think).

olan wrote:For example I didn't recognise Avalyn, the first tune of the night as the guitars were so low in the mix. On the up side, I heartily approve of circular descending basslines and the kind of drum patterns that Slowdive use, so it wasn't all bad. The set closer 'Golden Hair' was worth the price of the ticket alone.

I'm really glad you enjoyed the gig Olan. wish i could have made it.

your issues there with sound quality distinctly reminded me of when I saw The Verve on the reunion tour (what.. 10 years ago? arggh I'm getting old). they played well but for whatever reason, Nick's guitar wasn't roaring like it should, but instead weirdly quiet in the mix. I saw them two nights in a row, and had high hopes that on the second night, this issue would be sorted. but instead it was just the same. I therefore made a decision to just concentrate on enjoying the superb playing of the rhythm section, in a rare situation where you could really hear everything they were doing!

above a certain level (or in certain venues) there's really no excuse for a bad sound mix, is there? but I guess it's not an exact science.

Sleaford Mods/ Warpaint/ Ride/JAMC as part of 6Music Festival weekend at Glasgow Barrowlands,

Strange one this, my first gig of the yr and the sun was actually shining brightly still when we arrived for a ridiculously early 5.00 kick off, I suppose it added to festival vibe, Sleaford Mods were pretty good I thought, plenty energy and pretty funny with it, my mate who`d never come across them before wasn`t so amused and reckoned they were the worst band he`d ever saw!!
Warpaint I gave a miss as I tried to negotiate drinks fiasco situation, 3 bars in venue, we`ll open 1 at 5.00 and the other 2 at 7.30, Hello!! It`s Glasgow on a Friday night wtf are you thinking about?? This lead to enormous queue`s, not sure who`s doing this was but I suspect 6Music`s hand was in it, also noticed Barrowlands usual speaker stack`s had been removed and two large psychedelic trees had taken their place, don`t know what the BBC brought with them but the sound was good, really good,
Ride were excellent, better than the last time they were here, 2015 I think, a few mistakes that night, signs of rustiness maybe but none of that tonight. Charm Assault one of a handful of new tracks being an early standout, then a run through the hits, exclusively from the 1st two albums I think, Like A Day Dream, Seagull, Vapour Trail and Leave Them All Behind all impressing. Think I`ve already said JAMC are killing it a few times recntly so not too much to add to that, the new ones sounded great and clicked into the set effortlessly, War On Peace, the last track especially good. Not sure if the corporate hand of the BBC had anything to do with this but no merch for any band at all, weird. Good to catch a quick word with Sunray as well, all things considered a very good night,

good night not even ruined by the fact it took 20 mins to get a drink (why oh why put only one guy on the bar?)

Cloakroom were the support act and I rather enjoyed them. in the same vein as the headliner- perhaps a shade more stoner rock than post rock but a good mix of heaviosity and ambience. it's a bit strange when an act have a 'mini-me' band support them, but they warmed me up nicely.

Russian Circles were really tight and loud and put on a great show. would definitely see again.

The drummer in particular was very impressive- doing some massive Bonham-esque grooves driving everything along and sounding fantastic. in fact the whole sound engineering and light show (band often lit from behind almost as silhouettes) were both spot on and very key to the show being as effective as it was. Being an instrumental band hardly dripping with charisma, these elements are definitely important.

'heavy' music does seem to do well in Birmingham and as expected there was good turnout of black clothes and beards. it was really good just how heavy Russian Circles can get- when the real grinding bits kicked in, could see everyone around headbanging.

I really like what the guitarist does with loop pedals. As a pedal geek it was really great seeing him do his stuff and layer it all up. often a nice arpeggio would build up into a intense riff then some big swooping notes over the top of that. The fact he can produce varied sounds and textures really added to it and kept it interesting.

Without getting too pretentious, I find something futuristic about this bands music- there's something about the textures and ambience in there and the machine like sounds. They could easily soundtrack a sci-fi movie.

You could still accuse them of being a one trick pony. I would say that less is more with bands of this type- I wouldn't say I was getting bored of the set by the end. but I wouldn't have wanted it to go on much longer.

olan wrote:Slowdive last night at the Liverpool Arts Club., which is a venue I quite like (except for the two doric columns holding up the roof and blocking the sightlines). The in-house PA and lighting rig are top class so there is no real excuse for a gig to sound poor, unless your sound engineer has cloth ears. To my taste the rhythm section was far too prominent in the mix with the effect that I had trouble distinguishing between tunes at times. For example I didn't recognise Avalyn, the first tune of the night as the guitars were so low in the mix. On the up side, I heartily approve of circular descending basslines and the kind of drum patterns that Slowdive use, so it wasn't all bad. The set closer 'Golden Hair' was worth the price of the ticket alone..

Where were you stood? I tried initially behind the sound desk and it was pretty muddy there so I moved around a bit still on the "upper" level but out from that low roof bit and it sounded reasonable there. Thinking about it though there was quite a difference between the live drums and the drum track from "Star Roving" which I guess was mostly drum machine/pre-recorded, certainly there was a difference in volume.

Agreed on Golden Hair. They could do with making it longer (grow it?)., the recorded version is disappointingly short too

We stood on the floor stage right near the bar, (about as far from Neil as possible for want of a better description ). I'm not saying the sound was bad, just that the guitars weren't loud enough. The feedback solo in 'Catch the Breeze' should soar over the rest of the music. It was too faint at Liverpool.

Saw the JAMC in Birmingham last night and they were superb! No false starts or anything like that, just hit after hit and the new songs sounded incredible too with the extra volume (the album isn't quite noisy enough for me?). Amazing setlist, great sound and the institute is a nice little venue I reckon. Best I've seen them, would love to make more shows on this tour!

Moonlandingz at The Wedgewood rooms Portsmouth. Loved this lot at LPF last year, being a big fan of The Fat White Family, but I think The Moonlandingz are a step up on the surreal ladder. From the moment Lias Saoudi walked onstage with a plastic cup taped to the top of his head !
There is everything in their live performance, rock, psych, sleaze, disco , right down to the new moody single "The Strangle of Anna". Anarchic right through the set with an up for it crowd.
A great evening, with support from the cool looking GoatGirl with fine guitars and vocals.

Moon Duo at The Haunt Brighton. Wow ! what a fantastic night. I managed to get up the front for this one, which obviously makes all the difference to the atmosphere, but they were just brilliant. The sound is so hypnotic and the light show gets better each time I've seen them.
It will take a very good gig to beat this one this year for me.

A fairly unusual setting for a gig, but this was just Steve on acoustic so it worked. You could have heard a pin drop during his set as the audience sat in resolute and respectful silence, and cheered loudly after each song. Lots of stuff I knew from the last LP and Way Out Weather which was good. It was pretty atmospheric and we enjoyed it. To be honest it takes a lot for one man and an acoustic guitar to captivate me so my interest wandered a little by the end. Whatever, Steve is a superb guitarist and it was a decent night.

Everything BROKENHEART said. They were magnificent. I was looking forward to it but they way exceeded my expectations. From the off they launched into a blistering, pulsating, driving, hypnotic drone that managed to bop along and keep the entire crowd mesmerised from start to finish. Insanely psychedelic with Ripley's guitar cutting through the bouncing fuzz. The light show was something else - it's been a long time since I've seen one as good as that. Every song had its own set of patterns and projections. Some were very intense, but so was a lot of the music. White Rose, from the new album and probably the 3rd tune in, was spectacular - the sound kept altering subtly so the shape was continually evolving and the textures shifted all over the place. The whole place - pretty much rammed - was bouncing with people hugging each other all over in joyous abandon as the vibe spread out. As the man said - that's going to be a hard one to top this year. Hats off all round.

Everything BROKENHEART said. They were magnificent. I was looking forward to it but they way exceeded my expectations. From the off they launched into a blistering, pulsating, driving, hypnotic drone that managed to bop along and keep the entire crowd mesmerised from start to finish. Insanely psychedelic with Ripley's guitar cutting through the bouncing fuzz. The light show was something else - it's been a long time since I've seen one as good as that. Every song had its own set of patterns and projections. Some were very intense, but so was a lot of the music. White Rose, from the new album and probably the 3rd tune in, was spectacular - the sound kept altering subtly so the shape was continually evolving and the textures shifted all over the place. The whole place - pretty much rammed - was bouncing with people hugging each other all over in joyous abandon as the vibe spread out. As the man said - that's going to be a hard one to top this year. Hats off all round.

mazin night and the second or third song in was something else!
Nice new tees on the merch stand, cant see em online so Im sick I didnt nab one.

I also went to see Moon Duo at the Haunt in Brighton the other night with Shinesalight from this parish. can't add much to the thoughts above- they got every aspect of the show spot on and are just really good at what they do now. the sound was loud, pummelling and droney, it really had an umph to it. the light show was tremendous too, it really added to it and was perfectly in tune with the music. get beams of light and strobes blasting out and lots of trippy shapes. great night!

runcible wrote:Steve Gunn at Leeds Holy Trinity Church.

A fairly unusual setting for a gig, but this was just Steve on acoustic so it worked. You could have heard a pin drop during his set as the audience sat in resolute and respectful silence, and cheered loudly after each song. Lots of stuff I knew from the last LP and Way Out Weather which was good. It was pretty atmospheric and we enjoyed it. To be honest it takes a lot for one man and an acoustic guitar to captivate me so my interest wandered a little by the end. Whatever, Steve is a superb guitarist and it was a decent night.

I'm a really big Steve Gunn fan and I know what you mean. the one man and his guitar set up is going to have limitations however talented that person is. unfortunately not made to a gig on this tour but saw him with a full band touring the previous album and it was excellent.

I can only add to the glowing Moon Duo reviews - great to hear a lot of the new record, and White Rose was indeed phenomenal, and got the biggest cheer of the night. I've seen them a few times by now, so starting to know what to expect, and every time they still surprise me by how good they are.

My 6music festival gig was Honeyblood and Grandaddy - I had no gig buddy that night, I hate the Academy and the Grandaddy set felt short and faced between a choice between waiting 45mins to see the Shins (all I know about them is I must've heard them countless times on 6 music, and they never grabbed my attention!), or 15 mins to get home, I chose the latter.
I'd seen Honeyblood once before, again opening one of the larger venues for a festival, and they're so much improved nowadays. Last year's album has some cracking tunes, and unlike 3-4 years ago when they were pished and giggling and apologetic, they mean business nowadays! Really good set.
Some mixed feelings about Grandaddy - after getting super excited as the new songs came out, and really liking the album on first listen, I've become a bit bored with it. It's just super safe. And that hit me shortly before the gig! And that too felt a bit safe - obviously not helped by the fact they weren't headlining and only had 60 mins to play. I still loved a lot of it (Hewlett's Daughter, Laughing Stock at the start, Lost on your Merry Way), but a bit of magic was lacking! And yes, He's Simple... is a great song, but don't finish a Sat. night gig in Glasgow with a slow 8-10 mins song!